A week after suffering a morale-deflating 47-0 loss to East Pennsboro in the high school football season opener in Enola, the Indians fell behind 33-0 and were packing their proverbial bags for next week’s trip to New Oxford.

But an amazing thing happened.

Waynesboro scored the final 28 points of the game and came within recovering an onside kick from having a chance to win the game against the Chambersburg Trojans.

It’s the closest the Indians have come to beaten their Franklin County counterparts since defeating the Trojans in 1981.

“We got comfortable and we started to believe,” said Waynesboro head coach Scott Shacreaw. “You could see it when Nathan (Toney) delivered a perfect ball to (Matt Peck) in the third quarter. He can do that stuff. He knows the offense very well. We have to pull it all together.”

And so the saying is true after all — confidence breeds execution.

It was a much different post-game huddle Friday night than last week at that time. But instead of hanging their heads and limping into this week’s game against a heavily-favored team, Shacreaw said Waynesboro responded with upbeat and intense practices.

“It’s a huge steppingstone. We just have to practice the way we practiced this week,” he said. “We played inspired. This is what I’ve been waiting to see.”

The backdrop

On a beautiful night for football, the Tribe was thinking about anything but weather as they fell behind 33-0 midway through the third quarter.

Chambersburg (2-0) took a 19-0 lead in the first quarter and added two scores in close succession in the third period, both involving quarterback Ryan Martin. Martin ran 37 yards on a busted play to give the Trojans a 25-0 lead. A little under five minutes later, Martin tossed an 18-yard pass to Devon Ware and Jonathan Hopple ran for the 2-point conversion to give Chambersburg what appeared to be an insurmountable lead.

In the first half, Chambersburg used a methodical approach to open the scoring. The Trojans marched 63 yards in nine plays with Martin connecting with Hopple for a 15-yard TD at the 8:37 mark. Matthew Porter’s point after touchdown made it 7-0.

Waynesboro’s offense was anemic. In fact, the Tribe was minus-3 in total offense in the first quarter and punted four times. One possession after the Trojans’ Jordan Brown ran for a 33-yard touchdown, Brown returned a punt 65 yards for the score with the fans barely settled in their seats.

The Indians (0-2) took advantage of sloppy play to set up a field goal opportunity in the second quarter but missed a 26-yard attempt. However, Waynesboro kept Chambersburg off the scoreboard, and the score remained 19-0 at halftime.

Page 2 of 2 - Then, with the fans barely settled in their seats in the third quarter, the Trojans struck for two more touchdowns.

The comeback

It started with an incomplete pass and ended with a 5-yard strike from Toney to Peck in the end zone.

Starting from its 35 yard line, Waynesboro started moving the ball. Toney hit Matt Petrie for a 7-yard gain and a defensive holding penalty moved the ball to the Chambersburg 47. After another incomplete pass, Indian running back Brett Mohn took it from there. Mohn, a sophomore and heir to the running back position held for three years by Johnnie Adgers, reeled off gains of 17 and 21 yards before outrunning the Trojan defense into the end zone for a 6-yard TD with 2:55 remaining in the third quarter. Orion Oldham made the extra point kick.

Waynesboro’s defense held the Trojans on downs and both teams traded punts until both teams later failed on fourth-down conversions.

Then, the floodgates opened.

After Tribe linebacker Tyler Hahn stopped Trojan running back Duncan Rine for no gain on fourth down, Toney flipped a switch and turned into Tom Brady. He threw a strike to Jake Wertz for a 30-yard gain and then found a wide open Peck heading for the post for a 36-yard score. Jared Weisbrod’s PAT made it 33-14.

Aiden Smith recovered a fumble on the kickoff and Waynesboro’s offense went to work again from the Chambersburg 17. Five plays later, Toney ran it in from the one and Oldham booted the extra point to make it 33-21.

The Indians forced a fumble on the Trojans next possession and took over inside Chambersburg territory. On second-and-7, Toney tossed a 22-yard pass to Peck. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved the ball 15 yards farther downfield. Mohn ran seven yards to the five on second down, and Toney threw a hard spiral to Peck in the end zone with 56 seconds to play.